


Midnight City

by Kaguya



Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M, Post-Game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-06
Updated: 2013-05-06
Packaged: 2017-12-10 04:18:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/781695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaguya/pseuds/Kaguya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waiting in a car<br/>Waiting for a ride in the dark<br/>The night city grows<br/>Look and see her eyes, they glow  - M83 (Midnight City)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (EDIT: hi im just going through old fics and editing stuff (mostly notes) and i know this fic isnt finished and to be honest i dont really see myself finishing it, so you dont have to stick around if you dont want to. this was also my first fic so lol the writing is really bad)  
> this fic is post-game, post epilogue ending from P4G, so i see Kanji and Naoto in this fic as pretty much looking like their epilogue selves.  
> i actually don't know whether to rate this as mature or explicit so i just rated it as explicit just in case.  
> 

(layout of the hotel room:

the place labeled Hallway(outside) is not inside the hotel room. it is the hallway outside of the room connected to the elevators. everything is pretty much labeled, as you can see, and the cats represent doors (i'm sorry i didn't know what to put i just used the stamps on the line camera app to do stuff).)

\---

"Damn, Shirogane. How long have you been at it?"

Naoto looked up from the piles of paperwork scattered all over her desk. Her eyes were heavy and had dark circles beneath them. Detective Dojima was standing above her, looking down. "You really need to take a break, y'know. 'Sides, it should already be bedtime for youngsters like you," he said with a grin. Naoto looked down at the still unfinished pile of paperwork in front of her and shook her head with a smile.

"I can't--"

"Look, don't give me any of that 'justice never takes breaks' B.S. If anything, you deserve a break way more than anyone in this office does."

Naoto looked around the office. It was empty besides herself and the older detective standing above her. Everybody else had gone home. The younger detective shook her head once more and smiled again. "Dojima-san, this office is empty besides you and myself."

Dojima scratched his head. "I know that, but what I'm saying is that you need to take a break, let the younger ones handle these." He moved forward and took a handful of the unfinished cases left on her desk.

"Ah-- wait! I wasn't finished with tho--" She was cut off.

"Hey, look. I'm doing you a favor. How about you take a few days off, you hear me?" The older detective began shuffling through the papers in his hands. "Hey, I know. Why don't you go on a vacation or something, like, not too far or anything. Tatsumi Port Island, maybe. Hell, that one hotel would probably let you stay for free, you know, the one where we helped with that one case with the girl who tried to imitate that one urban legend with by, what was it, crucifying her ex?"

"The one with the scissors?"

"Yeah," Dojima rubbed his chin, "that one." He put the straightened-out papers back on Naoto's desk. "Since we pretty much saved that hotel's ass, they said that we'd be welcome to stay at any time, remember? I'm pretty sure if I called them now, they'd say you'd be able to stay a few nights for free." His eyes lit up and he made a move for the door into his office.

"Dojima-san, wai--" but he was gone. Naoto shook her head one last time and took her papers back from the corner of her desk where the older detective left them. Maybe a break wouldn't be so bad, she thought to herself as she sorted through the papers.

\---

Kanji Tatsumi was sitting in front of his sewing desk, almost asleep, when he heard his cell ring. His eyes snapped open when he heard his ringtone go off. He rubbed his face with both of his hands before he reached over to grab it. It read:

_One Text_

_From: Naoto Shirogane_

His heart jumped into his throat. He fixed his glasses that he now usually wore ever since his eyesight started worsening. He remembered his mother saying that his father "didn't have quite the best eyesight," and Naoto suggested it was because he was always stressing his eyes too much whenever he worked on sewing delicate pieces and knit animals together. He flipped open his phone to read the message.

_"Hello, Kanji-kun. Are you free this weekend? Please respond, ASAP."_

He swallowed his heart back into his chest. At least she had gotten better at texting during the past five years they had gotten to know each other. 

"Yeah, I'm free. What's this all about? You need something?"

He pressed the "Reply" button and waited for a response.

But still, he thought, what could she, Naoto Shirogane, the boy-ish girl ace detective whom Kanji had had a massive crush on ever since she, he back then, said that he (she) was interested in him, want with him? He remembered the last time they talked; she had just stopped by Tatsumi Textiles to grab something for someone back at her office. They just exchanged a few "Hello"s and "how are you doing these days"s, but even after all these years, he couldn't help but blush and look away whenever their eyes met or whenever they brushed shoulders. 

She'd changed so much over the past years, but she was still and probably always will be "That One Person" that Kanji would always have a crush on, no matter what. Hell, they both had changed a heck of a lot over the past five or so years ever since they first met. Naoto, for one, stopped hiding herself as a boy, and Kanji, as a punk. She started to grow her hair out, while Kanji stopped bleaching and dyed his hair back to its natural black state. He also began wearing glasses. Boy, had he changed. He was no longer the delinquent punk everyone had feared, but now he really was his own man, and everyone agreed. Although, he was still "Moronji" to Rise. Whenever anyone would bring up the subject of how much he had changed, Yukiko-senpai would always start one of her laughing fits, but he didn't care. She laughed at everything these days, hell, she'd probably live way past a hundred, no doubt.

Kanji's phone went off again, this time instead of the ringtone for a text going off, it was the tone for a call.

" _Calling: Naoto Shirogane_ ," it read. Kanji swallowed and braced himself and pressed the "Accept" button.

"H-Hello?" Kanji stuttered into the phone.

 _"Ah, Kanji-kun. It's me, Naoto."_ Her voice was as Kanji always remembered it to be, even over the phone.

"Yeah, uh, why'd you wanna call me all of a sudden?" Kanji swallowed again. He could feel the air around him getting warmer and warmer. He never really was the type who was great at speaking to people over phones, especially to his long-time crush.

 _"Yes, about that,"_ he heard Naoto take a deep breath. _"Would you like to accompany me on a short vacation this weekend? It should only be for about four days, tomorrow until Monday. Tomorrow we depart, and Monday, we return. I was told at work that I should take a break, and a hotel that I aided in a case has given me a free room for a few nights, so I was wondering if you wanted to--"_

"Sure, yeah, that'd be great," Kanji blurted out. Damn, Tatsumi, get yourself together, he scolded himself. "My old lady could just watch the shop or something while I'm gone."

 _"Of course,"_ he heard Naoto hum on the other side. _"We'll be staying at a hotel in Tatsumi Port Island. I hope that's okay with you."_

Tatsumi Port Island. Kanji remembered the school trip he went on with the rest of the investigation team back in their investigating days. "Yeah," Kanji nodded, "'s great." A small thought floated in the back of the delinquent's head. Why me, he thought. Why not anyone else?

 _"Well then,"_ the detective started, _"I'll pick you up in the morning, maybe around nine, tomorrow. I'll see you then?"_

"Yeah, I'll see you then." Kanji swallowed. "Wait, why me--"

Naoto hung up before Kanji could get his question across. He sat back in his chair and took the phone away from his ear. Damn, he thought to himself. He sighed and placed his cell back on his sewing table.

\---

It was almost 4 in the afternoon when they got to their hotel; 4:30 when they got to their room. The hotel had reserved the largest room on the top floor for the detective's visit. 

"You must've really pulled them out of some shit, huh?" Kanji observed as he put his duffel bag down and observed his temporary living space. It wasn't too bad Kanji thought, but it was the first time staying in a hotel, a real hotel, since he wanted to forget all of what happened during their stay at Tatsumi Port Island in his high school years. 

Naoto was already walking and looking around, checking the two bedrooms and the restroom. Kanji flopped onto the couch, letting out a sigh of relief after letting his body rest from a long day of sitting cramped in the same position while driving to their hotel.

"Kanji-kun?"

Kanji opened his eyes and turned his read round towards the direction of Naoto's voice. Here was a hallway with a couple of doors on one side and one door on the other to Kanji’s right. Her head was sticking out of the farther bedroom.

"I'll take this room," she started. "You can have the other."

"Yeah, sure." Naoto mentioned that the room she had reserved had two rooms. Thank God, Kanji thought. There was no way he could have slept in the same bed as Naoto, for three nights, no less. He stood up and stretched his back, his fingers intertwined and his arms reaching up towards the ceiling. He grabbed his duffel bag and headed towards his assigned room. He could hear Naoto shuffling through her own luggage in her bedroom. Kanji wondered what he had gotten himself into. Staying at a hotel with his friend whom he had had a crush in since the beginning of time, and just the two of them, on top of that? One wrong move, he knew, and he was fucked. 


	2. Chapter 2

\---

"So, uh, whaddya wanna do now?"

Kanji was sprawled on top of the sofa again, with Naoto sitting on the smaller  couch. 

"I'm not sure, actually." She replied, rubbing her lip with a finger. Her brow was furrowed. She looked over at the window. The sun was still up. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Er...," Kanji raked through his mind for suggestions. "Actually, I'm kinda hungry right now."

He could hear Naoto chuckle. "Are you sure," she began, "that's not just a factor of boredom?"

Kanji laughed along with her. "Maybe." He saw a smile crawl across her face. He couldn't help but smile too.

\---

"Kanji-kun?"

Kanji heard his name called from inside of Naoto's room. "Yeah?"

"Would you please come to my room for a second? There is something I'd like to ask you." He rolled off of his bed and turned the television off. He walked into the hallway and over to her room to find that her door was slightly ajar. His hand was lifted, ready to push open the door to see what she wanted, but he stopped. Him, Kanji Tatsumi, going into Naoto Shirogane's room. Hell, what did she want? An image of her, dressed in some skimpy underwear and a white tank-top, her breasts showing through the fabric, laying on top of her bed, splayed out into his mind.

No, fuck you, he thought to himself. It was barely a fraction of wrong compared to his most misguided thoughts of her, but he pushed it away, nevertheless. 

He pushed open the detective's door to find her sitting on the far side of her bed with her knees pulled into her chest. She had her reading glasses on and he could see a book placed next to her feet. She was wearing a white tank-top like Kanji had imagined, but he could see a bra underneath, thank God for that. She was wearing a pair of women's boxer shorts, the majority of her legs uncovered. Kanji pushed himself to stop looking at her and turned his head away. Her television was on, but he could barely hear anything out of it. He slowly turned his head back to Naoto, making sure that his eyes stayed on her face and didn't wander to any other parts of her body. Her gaze pierced straight into his own and he immediately looked away, a small blush creeping over his face.

"Hey, er, uh," Kanji struggled with the right words to use. He brought his hand up to the back of his head and made another attempt at eye contact, but when his eyes trailed from the floor to the her bed, then to her torso, he looked back up at her eyes and decided that he couldn't. His gaze made its way to the corner of her bed and he noticed a basket filled with various goods and edible items. "W-what's this?" he inquired, gesticulating towards the basket.

"That," Naoto started, "is the reason I called you here." Kanji looked back at her with a mildly confused expression across his face. "Here," Naoto said, stretching her arm to the closer side of the bed and waving it. "You can sit down if you'd like." Kanji nodded dumbly and found himself awkwardly taking a seat on the side of her bed.

Don't make it awkward, okay? You're just sitting on the same bed as her, nothing big, he told himself over and over, trying not to get nervous.

"Well," the detective started, "according to room service, it's a 'thank you' gift for helping the hotel out with their case, along with the room."

"So...," Kanji began, fixing his glasses and checking out the basket, "it's free-- or complimentary or whatever?" Big words, Tatsumi. Big words. He bent over to reach for the basket. It was heavier than it looked. He placed it in between him and the blue-haired detective and began shuffling through the items. Some liquor, chocolates, various fruits, sardines and crackers-- how the hell do they even decide what to put in these things, he asked himself. 

Naoto grabbed one of the smaller boxes and opened it. She reached in and revealed a small odd-shaped biscuit. Kanji could recognize that shape anywhere. A penguin animal cracker. God dammit. Kanji stared at Naoto, dumbfound.

"Is this...?" she began, looking back and forth from Kanji's confound expression and the cracker in her palm.

"Y...yeah..." Kanji answered. A dumb grin came across his face. He leaned back into the pillow behind him and brought his hand up to the back of his head, awkwardly scratching an itch that wasn't there. "Damn, you found the penguin right on the first try." He gave a little chuckle.

Naoto laughed as well. "Well, if you'd like, I could ask for another box of these animal crackers."

"Naw dude," Kanji declined with a grin. "'S'alright. I'd feel like a dick if I made you pay for some dumb little thing like a box of animal crackers or something."

"Well, actually," Naoto began, "the woman who gave me the basket and told me that it was complimentary also told me that anything else that I would like to order would be complimentary as well. She said that it was the hotel manager's way of thanking us."

"Whoa, really?" Kanji asked with mischievous grin sneaking across his face. "That's pretty freakin' cool." He reached over to grab the phone that was on the nearest nightstand. "I, uh, hope you don't mind me... Uh..." He trailed off.

"No, no. By all means, go right ahead," Naoto encouraged. "To be honest, I was thinking of ordering something more myself," she mumbled with a sheepish grin.

"All right, then," Kanji proclaimed while entering the number for room service on the phone, "let's get this party started." 

Naoto laughed after hearing Kanji's statement. "Yes, let's."

\---

"No, no, no. Don't tell me. You actually did that?"

Kanji raised his hands in innocence. "Hey, don't get me wrong, but he was totally asking for it." Naoto let out another snort of laughter. Kanji looked back at the clock on the nightstand it was almost midnight. He turned his gaze back towards the rosy-faced detective. There were boxes and wrappers of various goods littered across Naoto's bed. The two had been talking and sharing stories ever since they had received and went through the 'Premium Vacation basket' that Kanji had first ordered. It consisted of many varieties of sweets, biscuits, and fine liquor. He could feel himself getting a little dizzy after he had finished the first couple of bottles of booze from the 'Party Paradise basket.' Damn, it had been a while since he had consumed any amount of alcohol more than a few sake glasses. Naoto, on the other hand, was visibly getting redder and redder with each serving. Although, she still acted as she always would, save a few louder snorts and giggles here and there.

"So, Kanji-kun," She started with a barely audible hiccup, "tell me, do you ever think you'd ever like to settle down and have, like, a family with someone?"

Kanji prayed to God that his face was already red so she couldn't see him blushing. "I... Er, well," Kanji struggled for the right thing to say. Of course, I'd like to settle down with someone. You, dumbass. Can't you see that I've had a massive crush on you since the first time we met? That, Kanji told himself, was what he'd like to say. He paused for a second and stared at Naoto, making sure he didn't say that out loud.

"Well, I mean, someone like you has obviously got to settle down sometime in their life," Naoto put bluntly. Maybe she was a little more tipsy than Kanji had originally thought. "Someone like you," she began. "You have something like Tatsumi Textiles to support and be supported by, y'know? You have a home in Inaba, you were born and raised there. It just seems so..." Naoto stopped, waving her free hand that was't holding any liqueur, looking for the right word to use.

"Uh..."

"Shh!" Naoto bursted out. "I'm trying to think." Kanji let out a snort.

"It seems so... What?" Kanji asked. "Normal? Typical? Boring? Tedious?"

"All of those!" Naoto exclaimed. She snapped her fingers as if she finally got something, or missed it. "Except boring and tedious. Easy, maybe, actually." Kanji gave her a confused expression. "I mean, what I'm trying to say is that," Naoto began, "it seems like everything will just come to you. Like, you just need to keep doing what you're doing and it'll all just be fine."

Kanji gave her another confused look. "Yeah... I really think you should stop drinking..." Naoto gave him one of her 'Are You Serious?' looks. "... Like, right now." She gave out a sigh and put her bottle of liquor down. The two sat in silence for a small while, watching the barely audible television. Some random drama was on. There was a woman on the screen crying, calling out for something. Kanji had no idea what she wanted. He decided he wanted to break the silence. 

"So, uh, what about you? You ever think about settlin' down or something? Y'know, the Shirogane name has to be passed on and stuff." Kanji turned his head her way. She was still looking at the woman crying for her lost item on the screen. Kanji was pretty sure she was crying over a guy or whatever now.

"To be honest," Naoto started, still watching the television. "I'm not quite sure." Kanji turned his gaze towards her. "Finding someone to love," she began, "I don't think I'll ever have the time. I don't even know if I would be able to accept anyone's love." Kanji gave her a confused expression. She turned herself towards Kanji and pulled her legs into her chest, settling her chin on top of her knees. "I mean, I know there will probably be someone out there who would want my love, but I don't know if I could ever come to love them as they would love me. And if I did end up bearing feelings of love towards another, would I be able to gain their love?" Kanji knew the feeling all too well.

The two sat in silence until Kanji could muster up the strength to ask her another question. "So, uh, have you never had, like, a crush or whatever on anyone before?" He couldn't believe he was actually talking to her about this. "...what about... Uh... Souji-senpai?"

Naoto lifted her head off of her knees and gave him a mildly confused look. "Souji-senpai?"

Kanji scratched the back of his head an looked down in embarrassment. "Yeah... Him..." he mumbled. "I mean, I know you guys spent a lot of time together, well, hell, he spent a lot of time with a lot of us while he was in Inaba." Kanji remembered all the times that his senpai had helped him out.

"Well, we did spend quite some time together," the detective agreed, "but I can't exactly see myself being together with him. He just helped me figure a lot of stuff out about myself."

"Oh." Kanji lapsed into silence for a while.

"But, yes, I do wish I could find someone to settle down with." Kanji turned his gaze towards her. She was looking at him, the side of her head resting against her knees. Her gaze was soft. He quickly turned back towards the television. There was just some random-ass advertisement for some random-ass product. "Although," she began, "it's the thought of, er, well," she paused for a moment. Kanji could tell she felt a little awkward. "It's the idea of giving birth and raising the children that troubles me." She looked down, her cheeks a bit more rosy than usual. She was too fucking cute. Kanji couldn't help but blush at the thought.

He placed a hand on the back of his neck, scratching to not make his next compliment seem so awkward. "Well, er," he shifted around, trying to make this seem as little as awkward as possible, I think you'd be a hell of a ma." Fuck, here it goes. Kanji began blushing even more furiously than before.

Naoto looked up at him and he gave a sideways glance towards her. The moment their eyes met, they both looked away. "Th-thank you, Kanji-kun," she mumbled, "I guess..."

The two lapsed into awkward a silence for a while. "But, unfortunately, since I am female, I don't think that," Naoto began in an attempt to break the awkward quietness, "any children that I may have will be able to inherit the Shirogane name." Naoto's gaze shifted downwards towards Kanji's hand resting on her bed.

"Well, uh," Kanji began, "you don't haf'ta change your last name, do you? You can still be Shirogane and your kids could just choose whatever they wanna be, right? You don't gotta force them to do anything or be anyone they don't wanna."

Naoto gave a little giggle and a soft smile came across her face. "I suppose you're right, Kanji-kun. My gender should have no part in the lives of the people I love."

Kanji felt a grin come across his own face. "Yeah," he agreed. "Gender doesn't matter. Actually, you know what? Fuck gender. Fuck gender and its stupid roles. If I wanna be a guy and I wanna knit, I'll be a guy, and I'll fuckin' knit. And if you wanna be a girl, and you wanna pass down your own name, then you just gotta be a girl and pass down your own fuckin' name." The smile on Naoto's face grew. "You and me? People like us? We don't need that shit. We'll just be who we wanna be, and no one can stop us."

Kanji looked over to the clock placed on the nightstand. It was already past midnight, but he didn't care. He was having fun, talking to the person he'd always wanted to talk to, helping the person he'd always wanted to help, falling in deeper love with the person he already thought his crush couldn't get any bigger with. Naoto stretched out her arms, letting out a yawn. She straightened her legs out in front of her, leaning backwards against the pillows. She brought her arms down, her farther one resting on her stomach. The hand closest to Kanji, she placed on his own hand. He wanted to move away immediately, but he knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and he didn't want to screw anything up with her. He could feel the soft skin of her palm against the surface of his own hand. It was smooth, like porcelain. Her fingers began to intertwine with his. Kanji swallowed, hoping that he wouldn't screw anything up. 

"'Sides," he added, blushing furiously and barely audible. "I..." he paused, hesitated, looking for the right words to use, the right words not to screw anything between him and Naoto up. "...I'm kinda glad you're a girl." He just barely thought that he saw sone kind of vague blush come across Naoto's cheeks, but he decided that it was probably just a trick of the light, or that he was just really sleepy.

He looked back towards the television. The woman from before was on the screen. She was sitting outside on a bench, holding an umbrella to shield herself from the sun. Kanji didn't exactly know what was going on in the drama at the moment, but he knew that she was happy. He let out a yawn.

"My, it's gotten quite late, hasn't it?" Kanji looked at Naoto. She was watching the woman on television. He looked down at their intertwined hands. "I think it should be about time for me to retire." He could feel her hand clench against his, and then let go. Kanji felt at a loss. She brought both of her hands against her thighs and wiped off any crumbs that might have remained from their earlier snacking. "I can clean up the rest here," Naoto began, lifting herself up from the pillows and looking at Kanji, her eyes soft. "You can go back to your room if you'd like. I have a number of things I'd like to do tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Kanji nodded dumbly. "I'll, uh, just be leaving now, I guess." Kanji barely hoped that she would tell him to wait and ask him if they could spend more time together. Yeah, right, Tatsumi. Get your head out of the clouds. He turned round and headed for the door.

"Er, Kanji-kun. Wait." Kanji felt a wave of relief. He turned around to look at Naoto and found her staring straight into his eyes. Her own eyes were bright, blue, and full, like a doll's, except they were full of life. Warm, innocent, understanding life. If only that life could understand how much he felt towards her. "Thank you," she began. "For everything."

Kanji nodded dumbly again. "Yeah, it's..." Kanji wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he would do everything in his power to help her, with whatever she needed. That he'd travel to the ends of the world, the universe, to the ends of everything and back. That he'd give her all that he had, all that that he could feel, once, twice, three times, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand, a million, as many times as needed, every day, every hour, every minute, every second, until the end of time. That he'd do it all, just to make her feel loved, just to make her happy. "...it's no problem."

She gave him one last nod and he left. Kanji headed towards his room, changed into something more comfortable, and flopped onto his bed. He removed his glasses and placed them on the nearest nightstand. All of the things that they had talked about, all of the things that he had seen in her, all of the things that he had felt about her, all of it, raced through his mind. He remembered the feel of her porcelain skin against his own roughness. He remembered the life in her eyes, the life that Kanji wanted to live for. There was no way that he was going to be able to sleep tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

"A club?" 

Naoto nodded fiercely. The two were sitting outside of a "Wild Duck Burger" in a strip mall. She took a fry from the middle of the table and nibbled on it. They had both finished their meals and were just snacking on shared leftover fries. "You remember, the Club Escapade? The one we went to during our high school trip."

"Oh, that one." Kanji recalled the time when they had all played the King's Game. "Yeah, I remember," Kanji began. He didn't know that Naoto was really a girl then. He also didn't know that Teddie was going to call Number 3 and he was going to get slobbered on by him. Kanji shook his head, trying to forget the awful memory. "But to be honest, I'd rather not try to remember."

Naoto gave hearty laugh. "Ah, yes. I remember now, too. The King's Game." She set her elbow on the table and set her chin on the palm of her hand while taking another fry. "You and the others still thought I was male then." Her eyes stared off into the distance. After a second or two she suddenly regained her composure and looked back at Kanji. A mischievous grin came across her face. "You were also kissed by Teddie."

Kanji let out a groan. "Yeah," Kanji began, "like I said, I don't wanna remember." 

Naoto laughed again. "Were you really kissed by Teddie?"

Kanji let out an even louder groan. "Yeah." That damn bear. "That damn bear." Naoto's eyes were bright with amusement.

"Forgive me if this is a bit too personal," she began, "but, was he, er, your first... you know..." She trailed off. 

His first? His first what? Kanji furrowed his brow. Naoto was still looking at him, her eyes wide with curiosity. Her lips were parted with a smile. Then it struck him. "NO NO NO NONONONO," Kanji yelled, his hands waving in front of him with protest. "HELL NO." Naoto gave a snort and fell back in her seat, her hands clutching her sides and laughing. "IT'S NOT FUNNY," Kanji demanded, fuming with anger and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Kanji-kun!" Naoto was still laughing. "It's just that--" Naoto paused to take a breath, but failed in another snort. "I'm sorry," at least her voice was a bit calmer now. Kanji rolled his eyes and took a couple of fries. She took one last breath before fully calming down. "Ah, wow," Naoto's cheeks were inflamed from all of her laughter. "Forgive me Kanji-kun." Kanji looked away, scoffing and giving her a grin of feigned annoyance. "It's just that when I was first with you, I thought of you as, well, a pack of imbeciles, no offense."

Kanji raised his hand. "Hey, none taken. If I were you, I probably woulda thought the same thing." He grinned again.

Naoto gave him a soft smile in return. Kanji couldn't believe how many times he'd seen Naoto smile like this on their trip. She was so, well, perfect, and Kanji, well, he was just so him. "But," she began, "now that I know you, it all seems so much more amusing." She looked up at the sky. Kanji followed. The sun was setting, and God, was it perfect. His gaze shifted back towards Naoto, who was still looking up at the sky. Everything about this was perfect. He wanted time to stop. He wanted her to always be this close to him. He didn't care if this was the closest they were ever going to get, he just wanted it all to stay this way. She was happy, he was happy, they were both happy, together. 

"So, tell me," Naoto began. She was looking straight at him again, her eyes cheerful.

"Huh?" Kanji was pulled out of his reverie. He blinked and shook his head, pushing away his earlier thoughts to focus on her again.

"If Teddie wasn't your first, then who was?"

Kanji began to blush furiously. "Er... Well..." He hesitated. Was he really going to talk to her about this? "Nobody, actually." He expected a confused look from the detective, but her gaze was just curious. "I mean, Teddie didn't actually, like, full-on kiss me." Kanji swallowed. He could feel the awkwardness swarming around the things he was saying, or at least it was awkward to him. "He just barely missed, like, right on the corner of my mouth." He pointed to the corner if his mouth where he recalled Teddie's lips. God, that was awful. Just thinking about it was awful, and awkward, too. He focused his attention back on Naoto to keep his mind off of it. 

Naoto was staring at his lips, or at least the corner of his mouth that he had previously indicated where Teddie had "given him his innocence." Yeah, this was still awkward. He leaned back in his chair, pretending to stretch, hoping that that would pull her attention away from his mouth. He folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the sky. It was almost dark. "So, uh, yeah," he said aloud, hoping to break the awkwardness. "My lips are still, er, 'virgins' or whatever." He wanted to make an analogy about mistakingly "putting it 'up the butt' instead of the vagina," but no, that would make it even more awkward, and he didn't want that. He didn't think that anyone would want that.

Naoto giggled at his earlier statement. "Well," she began, "don't feel bad. My lips are still ''virgins' or whatever,' too." He looked over at Naoto. She was staring into his eyes, her eyes full with some kind of soft understanding. He felt a rosy blush slowly creep across his face. For an instant he thought he saw a rose-like color creeping over her own face, but he decided that it was getting too dark to assume anything and shrugged it off.

\---

The club was dark and loud, just as Kanji remembered it to be. There was a number of people dancing in the middle of the floor, and a number sitting at the bar or on various sofas and couched scattered across the club. 

"Shall we get something to drink?" He heard Naoto almost shout, trying to raise her voice over the volume of the booming music. Kanji nodded dumbly and Naoto began to make her way towards the bar, grabbing Kanji's hand and pulling him through the crowd of musty bodies.

"What would you like?" Naoto asked, her voice softer than it was before. The music around the bar wasn't as loud, so she could afford to lower her voice if she wanted to be heard. They had found a couple of seats, and sat. Kanji took off his glasses to clean them from his adventure through the hot and sweaty crowd of the club.

"Uh..." Kanji raked through his mind for a suitable drink to ask for. "--wait," Kanji recalled something Naoto had said the first time they had gone to the club with the rest of the investigation team. "Do they still not sell alcohol here?"

Kanji looked around to the other clubbers sitting at the bar and their drinks. He was pretty sure those were alcoholic drinks.

"Oh, yes," Naoto seemed to remember something. "They began selling alcohol again. For what reason, I am unsure of, but they do offer alcoholic beverages now."

Kanji nodded in understanding, but there was something else that was bothering him. "Oh, yeah, and, uh," he was looking for the right words to use. "Are you, uh, gonna pay for me? 'Cause, I mean, you really don't have to. I got my ow--" he was cut off when Naoto put her hand on his arm.

"It's fine, Kanji-kun." She gave him a warm, reassuring smile. "The hotel said to use this card." She began looking through her hand-purse-thingy. A clutch, Kanji. It's called a clutch. He remembered Naoto telling him that before they left their hotel room to go to the club. She had wanted to change into something nicer before heading out to the club. She was wearing a thin, dark blue-ish black dress. The bottom of it cut off around the ends of her fingertips, if she were to stand up straight. She wore black gladiator sandals and some black jewelry to go along with it. Her clutch matched, too. It all went together so perfectly, Kanji thought. He went speechless the moment Naoto stepped out of her room and asked him how she looked. A blushing, blubbering idiot was what he was. God, she was fucking perfect. Way too perfect for the likes of him.

She took out a white card with the name of the hotel written on it and examined it. "When I had gotten that first gift basket from room service, they had also included this card. It supposedly pays for most of anything we order at a number of different places. This club included," she explained. She held it out towards Kanji.

Holy shit. "Holy freakin' shit." That was unbelievable. "This is unbelievable." Bingo. He took the card and examined it closely, the lighting in the club not helping much. "You REALLY must've pulled them outta some deep shit," Kanji said, looking back up at Naoto with an incredulous gaze.

Naoto shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "It's only my job." Her eyes were soft, yet bright. Even Kanji could tell from the terrible lighting in the club. They seemed to illuminate everything when gazed into them. They cast out all darkness, all doubts Kanji had. He caught himself staring and looked away, his cheeks turning a slight pink.

"'Only your job,'" Kanji quoted, trying to push away any awkwardness he felt from catching himself staring. He examined the card once more. "How the hell is this even possible?"

"Regardless," Naoto began, "we shouldn't question it and just enjoy it while we can." She held out her palm. Kanji put the card into her hand and she placed it on the counter of the bar. "So," she turned herself towards Kanji, flashing a soft smile, "what would you like?"

\---

"Please excuse me for a moment, Kanji-kun, I need to use the women's room and possibly step out for a bit before we leave."

Kanji nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I'll just be here." He knew she could handle herself. They had only had a couple of drinks, most of the time they were chatting with each other and striking up friends conversation with the bar-goers next to them, sometimes even with the baristas. 

Naoto grabbed her black clutch and slid herself off of her chair. Kanji watched her as she made her way around the crowd and towards the restrooms. His eyes slowly trailed obliviously from the back of her head to her back, then even lower to her ass and thighs. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he caught himself staring. He felt a pang of embarrassment as he took his phone out of his pocket. There was a text. From Rise. He wondered what the hell she was doing, texting him this late at night. He opened his phone and read the text.

_"Moronjiiiiii!!!!!!! It's Rise!!!!!! i heard u n Naoto-kun r on a vacation 2gether from Chie-senpai ^o~ u should totes give me the deets ^-~~~"_

Same old Rise, same old way of texting. God, what the hell was she thinking? Kanji knew that that girl was out of her mind if she thought that he was going to tell her anything. And, he wondered, how did Chie-senpai find out about his little excursion with Naoto?

"There's nothing going on between us Rise. We're just on a vacation together, as friends."

Kanji pressed the send button. He hoped that she wouldn't reply, but he knew better.

_"O rly now???? Wat r u 2 doing rite now? OMG, DON'T TELL ME. Did I interrupt something between u 2? >o<"_

Jesus fucking Christ, Rise. Kanji groaned. He knew he shouldn't have, but he replied back.

"Like I said, Rise, there's NOTHING going on between us. I'm just waiting for Naoto to get back from the restroom so we can leave this club."

Kanji realized his mistake right after he hit the 'send' button.

_"A CLUB???? W8, don't tell me... Club escapade???? Like the one from Tatsumi Port Island in the Paulownia Mall??? U kno, me n Naoto-kun went there once by ourselves ^-~"_

Fuck, now Kanji actually had some kind of interest in what Rise had to say.

"You've gone here with Naoto once before? What were you two doing here?"

_"If u wanna kno so badly, y don't u just ask Naoto herself? I'm sure she'd be moar than willing 2 tell u ^-~~~"_

Of course. Never trust Rise to tell you anything you wanted to know. ESPECIALLY if it was about someone she knew you liked. Kanji decided to ignore that last text. He looked at the time on his phone. Naoto had been gone for a while. He lifted himself off of his seat and decided to look for her. She'd either be in the women's room or outside, Kanji assumed. He left a couple of dollars as a tip and set off through the hot and humid crowds of the club. He knew that he obviously couldn't step into the women's restroom and look for her, so he decided to check outside in the mall instead.

He stepped out of the club and screwed his eyes, still slowly adjusting to the change in brightness. The air in the mall wasn't exactly crisp and refreshing, but it was much better than the stuffy atmosphere inside of the club. He stuck his hands into his pockets and decided to look around for Naoto.

"Please unhand me, I have no interests with the likes of you." Kanji heard what sounded like Naoto's voice. He turned around and saw her, her arm being held by some guy Kanji had never seen in his life.

"Hey," he called out, "Naoto."

Naoto turned her attention towards Kanji as he began walking towards the two. "Ah, Kanji-kun," she began. She turned towards the man latched onto her arm. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll be--" She was cut off rudely by the man who was still holding onto her.

"Is this dude your boyfriend?" he asked, pointing at Kanji with his free hand while he walked up to him and Naoto. This guy was clearly a bit more tipsy that he should have been. 

Kanji and Naoto exchanged a couple of awkward glances.

"Er, he's not--"

"Yeah, uh, we're not--"

They exchanged a couple more awkward glances.

"Then, I guess that means you're free," the stranger put bluntly. he turned himself back towards Naoto.

"Please unhand me!" Naoto's voice was raised. Kanji had to do something about this.

"Hey, dude," Kanji started. He put his hand on the drunk's shoulder. "Just let her go--"

The stranger shoved Kanji off of him. "Don't touch me," the strangers voice was almost at a yell. "You come any closer and I'll--" he looked around hesitantly and maneuvered his thoughts, trying to find something intimidating to say. "--I'll call my friends and we'll beat you to a pulp." Wow. This guy really needed some help. He turned back to Naoto. "Now, c'mon, a pretty lady like you can't be wandering all by herself this time a night. It's dangerou--" he was cut off when he received a swift kick to the crotch from Naoto. He let go of Naoto and doubled over, his hands shielding his delicates.

Naoto quickly stepped over to Kanji and took his hand. "Hurry, Kanji-kun," she demanded, "let's get out of here." Kanji nodded dumbly and they ran for the exit of the mall.

"YOU LITTLE SHITS," Kanji could hear the now injured drunk yell from across the complex. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS."

The two stepped outside and ran a few several feet, or maybe yards, (meters maybe?) or so before coming to a halt. Kanji was never really good at measuring distance. It was only centimeters and inches that mattered to him, because he used them so frequently when sewing and tailoring various garments. Kanji could barely breathe, and he could tell Naoto was struggling too. Though it wasn't the clearest, the air outside of the mall was much more crisp than inside. He looked up into the inky night of the sky. The stars were hidden by the lights of the bustling midnight city. He looked back down at Naoto, puffing less than before, but still puffing.

"Damn," Kanji started. He straightened out his shirt and fixed his glasses. "You got fuckin' guts," he told her, a grin forming across his face. He looked back towards the entrance of the mall. "You think he'll really bring his friends?" He turned his head towards Naoto, who was still bent over, breathing hard. She probably hadn't had a run like that since their days exploring the television. Kanji himself still worked out from time to time, still wanting to keep a healthy shape rather than sitting around all day and tailoring.

Naoto finally straightened herself too and fixed her own dress. She looked over at the entrance of the mall a few ways away. Kanji looked at her up and down, noticing that she didn't look as thin as when he first met her, when he first thought she was male. His attention slowly made its way to her breasts. He realized that it was probably because she didn't bind anymore, she didn't need to keep herself a secret. He came back to his senses and realized where his eyes were. He quickly looked back towards the entrance, a bit flushed.

"Regardless," she began, still looking at the entrance, "wouldn't want to be there to see if he would." She looked back towards Kanji who looked back towards her. He nodded in agreement. 

He looked around at the night life of the city. There were still crowds of people moving through the street, as if it were still day time. The night air was cool, but it wasn't as clean as the air back in Inaba. His focus snapped back to Naoto when she suddenly grabbed his hand. He quickly looked at her to find that she was pointing to the entrance of the mall. 

He turned his head to find the man from before stumbling out of the entrance, a few other men around his age following. Fucking shit. He felt a tug from where Naoto's hand was latched and realized that she began making her way through the crowds. He turned his head back once more to find that he had made eye contact with the stranger. He saw the man say, or maybe yell, Kanji couldn't tell, the bustling crowds around him were too loud, something to his friends. They quickly began to follow. Kanji turned round and pressed onwards through the crowds with Naoto.

He followed his detective friend through the streets and sidewalks of the man-made island. Kanji was completely lost in cities like these, and it seemed like Naoto had enough experience with urban areas to know what she was doing, so he just let her lead him through the crowds. He saw all of the instant passing faces, only to forget them a second later. He looked down at his wrist which was currently being held by the hand of an occupied Naoto. It was kinds of sore from all of the pulling and yanking it had been through, but he could suffice. It was being held, pulled, and yanked at by his beloved, after all. Beloved. It was a strange word for him to use, Kanji thought to himself, but it worked. He really did love her, and he knew it. 

His gaze trailed up from her hand to her wrist, which had a black bracelet on it, and then up to her arm, and then to the back of her head. The two were still maneuvering through the crowded streets. He didn't care that he was running for possibly his life. He was on an adventure. And adventure with her, the one person Kanji had felt things he had never and possibly would never feel for anyone else. He was living in the moment, the passing faces, the flashing lights, the sudden smells and noises of the streets, it all felt so right, so perfect, to be feeling these things with her leading him. He could feel a huge grin stretch across his face. His heart was racing. It felt like love. Not the kind of love that gives you sleepless hours in the dark, or the type of love that makes you want to pour your heart out and give away your soul, but the kind of love that makes you feel alive, the kind of love that gives you so much, and only asks for your own love in return. He was terribly happy. Terribly happy, and terribly in love.

Kanji returned the focus of his gaze back onto the behind of Naoto's heat as they turned a sharp corner. She turned her head back, glancing at Kanji, and then behind him to see if they were still being followed, in a way that he could only barely see the side of her face during that turn, that he could only barely see a wide grin stretched across her own face, too, during that turn.

Kanji turned his head round, too. He could see the man from earlier and his colleagues, closer than they were before. Kanji looked around, almost in a panic, scanning the surrounding buildings for familiars. He recognized a few of them, they were almost at the hotel. 

Just a few more seconds, and the two rushed through the doors and into the lobby. Naoto pulled Kanji up to the elevators and she began rapidly pressing the button to go "up." She let go of his wrist and looked back to make sure that they were safe, for now. Kanji could still see that she was still grinning. So was he. He looked back towards the entrance of the lobby, rubbing his sore wrist with his other hand. He saw the men run past the door, unaware that he and Naoto were behind it. 

But before Kanji could give a sigh of relief, he notice the first man coming back and looking through the door. His gaze met with Kanji's. "Shit," Kanji cursed, under his breath.

Naoto looked back from the abused elevator button to see what Kanji's cursing was about. "Fuck," he heard her mutter. She was pressing the button even more rapidly than before. Kanji was a bit surprised, hearing Naoto curse. He almost thought it was pretty hot, but now was no time for arousal. Her eyes were wide and grin vanished. Kanji looked back towards the man and see that he had called his friends and they were making their way through the door and down the lobby. Kanji heard a 'ding' and felt himself being pulled my familiar hands. He stepped back into the elevator and shifted his attention to Naoto, who was pushing her weight into the "close" button for the elevator like there was no tomorrow.

The doors of the elevator began to close, seconds before the man could reach him and Naoto. His hands were raised in an attempt to stop them, his eyes wide with anger, exhaustion, and horror of seeing his prey escape. The elevator doors shut and Kanji could feel the shift of the elevator bringing them up to their floor. He could feel every limb in his body shaking with fear and excitement. He slowly turned his gaze towards Naoto as she finally took her finger off of the "close" button and slowly shifted her own gaze towards him. He saw a grin slowly spread across her face as he could feel a grin slowly come across his own.

Naoto gave out a short snigger and snort of laughter and they both began to laugh. She turned herself towards  Kanji and stepped forward. "My GOD, Kanji-kun," she began, still stifling some laughter. "I cannot BELIEVE what just happened." She gave one more step forward and almost fell. Kanji placed a hand on her side to keep her upright and she placed her hands on both sides of Kanji's shoulders to keep her balance. Her legs were trembling.

Kanji laughed once more. "Hell, you and me both, Naoto." His grin was as wide as he could ever remember it being.

She brought one of her hands down to her forehead, looking down. Her other hand was still on Kanji's shoulder. "I can't believe this," she repeated. She looked back up at Kanji, her grin incredulous and eyes glowing with excitement. 

His eyes stared into hers. They seemed wild and vivid. The warm, understanding life was still there, though, not so innocent anymore. He found himself suddenly kissing her, their lips touching, feeling, wanting. He could feel her wrap her arms round his neck, pulling him down, closer. He instinctively pulled her closer with his hand that was already feeling her side. It was his first kiss. He was unexperienced, but it still all felt so right to him. He hesitantly brought his free hand up to her cheek. It was soft, if not softer than her hand which he had felt the previous night. His rough and calloused thumb stroked her porcelain skin. He could feel her, giving him what he had wanted, and wanting what he had to give. He gave it to her. He gave her everything; his time, his concern, his empathy, his understanding, his heart, his soul, his love. He gave it all.

He pulled her closer as she did the same. He could feel her parted lips, her smooth teeth, her soft tongue. He could feel _her_. He felt her tongue race across his lips, his teeth, his own tongue. He moved his hand from her cheek into her hair. It was soft, like silk. He inhaled her scent. it was hot and humid, but it was also sweet. It was her. He could barely hear the "beeps" and "dings" of the elevator passing through each floor. It was all drowned out by the thoughts and feelings racing through his mind. How he dreamed of finally doing this. He could finally touch her, hold her, feel her, and it all felt too good to be true. 

Kanji felt as if it would all vanish, that he'd wake up, that he'd be sucked back into cold, hard reality. The reality where Naoto worked in an office, where he only rarely saw her, where the only times he could feel her were when it wasn't real. This wasn't real, he told himself. It was only a dream; a dream where once he woke up, it would be back to the same old boring routine. The routine of doing work at the shop, eating, sleeping, and only dreaming of things like this.

He pushed her away as the elevator gave one last "beep" that signaled that it was their stop, her hands ripped away from Kanji's own black, and now ruffled hair and fell back down to her sides. The door opened and Kanji turned and stood there for a few seconds, the awkward silence flooding in. He took a step forward.

"Kanji-kun, wait--" Naoto started, holding out a hand in attempt to stop him, but it was too late. He already left the elevator and was making his way down the hall. Every step he took was heavy. He wanted to sink down into the floor. 

He stopped in front if the door to their suite and took the entry card out from his pocket. Everything was so slow, but it was moving too fast. He slid the card into the slot below the door handle and quickly pulled it out, the light below it flashing a green color. He placed his hand on the handle, turned, and pulled, but he was stopped short when Naoto placed her hand on the door. 

He couldn't look her in the eyes. He didn't want to. He didn't want to see, he didn't want to know. He didn't even know what he didn't want to know. Wow, man. 

"Kanji-kun, wait," she began again. She placed her other hand on his shoulder. He wanted to pull away from the contact. "Wha--"

Kanji cut her off. "I'm sorry." He pulled open the door, moving Naoto aside, and walked into the hotel room. It was dimly lit from all of the lights coming from outside sources through the windows. He made his way through the dark dimness and into his room. Naoto was still standing in the doorway of the hotel room. He didn't want to know what her expression was. 

He shut the door of his own room. It was dark. He just wanted it all to be over. He just wanted it to have never happened. He slipped off his shirt and threw it in a random corner of the room. A "click" sounded off from outside of the room. Kanji noticed a glow coming from the bottom of his closed door, an glow that wouldn't be there if the lights in the connecting room weren't on.

He stood there for a while, shirtless and somber. He heard footsteps from outside getting louder, coming closer to his room. They stopped and he noticed a dark blotch of shade blocking the light emanating from the outside. He didn't know what to do. She was waiting there, and he didn't know what to do. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to sleep and maybe, just maybe, the nightmare would go away.

He waited there, standing, just a little longer until the shadow outside left. She was standing out there, Kanji, he told himself. She was waiting, for you. The image of her bright eyes came flooding back into his mind. He tried to push it away, but his efforts proved pointless. Her eyes, her perfect, glossy, doll-like eyes, they stayed, burning into his mind. Her understanding eyes from her bedroom, her bright eyes from the club, her vivid, life-filled eyes from the elevator; they all seared into his mind, trying to stay, telling him to face her. He couldn't.

He finally heard the footsteps resume, heading into the room next to his. she shadow beneath the door vanished, leaving just light. There was one last "click," and the light was gone. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, and stepped towards his bed. He removed his glasses, tossing them towards the nightstand, not caring whether they missed or made it, and rubbed his face. It was hot, hot with the memory and feeling of Naoto's face so close to his.

He fell onto his bed, sprawled out. He stared into the darkness of the night. There was barely any light, only some, emanating from the closed curtains of his window. 

It was hot. He kicked off his jeans and felt around the foot of his bed for some other comfortable pants he had left out this morning while getting ready to go out. He groped a familiar cloth and slid the pants on. He lied there, facing up into the darkness. There was a ringing sound piercing his ears, probably from the loud noises he had experienced earlier into the night. He wondered what Naoto was doing right now. Was she... thinking of him? He slowly brought his hand up to his lips, touching, feeling, where Naoto's own once were. Once realizing what he was thinking about, he pushed the thought away and turned over, away from the door. Another sleepless night, he thought to himself as the images and feelings of Naoto raced across his body and through his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (EDIT: the old notes that i wrote before said that the explicit writing/smut is in the next chapter. it still is.)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (EDIT: smut this chapter (really really bad smut))

Kanji awoke with a start. He was lying in his bed, a dim light coming forth from the closed curtains on his window. He laid there, soaking in the silence. He looked down to find the unfamiliar sheets and blankets of the hotel bed kicked around him. He turned himself over, facing up and his arms and legs spread out.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of running water coming from across the hallway in another room. He remembered that he wasn't alone. The memories of Naoto and last night came flooding back into his mind. He was too tired for this shit. He slowly sat up and began to rub his face. The sounds of a pulling shower curtain and running water quickly shifting from a tub faucet to a shower head came through the hallway and into his room. He sat there. His legs were sore, his arm and wrist ached, his heart ached, and he was tired.

Kanji sat there for a while, staring off into the filtered light of his room. His gaze slowly made its way towards the television in front of his bed. He remembered the woman from the drama he had seen from the first night. He remembered her crying, and he remembered her smiling. He sat there, staring, still groggy from waking up. How long had he been sitting there? Seconds, minutes, hours, days, maybe? It didn't matter. Sitting there wouldn't help the nightmare go away.

He heard a sudden knock on his door and startled. He realized the sounds of running water had stopped, that they had actually stopped a while ago. He heard a voice from the other side of the door. "Kanji-kun?" He flinched at the mention of his name with her voice. There was a shadow beneath his door.

He didn't know what to do. He sat there, not knowing what to say. He finally pushed out a "Yeah," followed by a heavy silence. 

"I have to check on something," he heard the voice from the other side of the door say, "so I'll be stepping out for a while."

"'Kay," he muttered, hoping that she'd be satisfied with his answer and leave. The shadow beneath his door stayed. She was waiting there, for him. She waited there for what seemed like a second eternity. And suddenly, her shadow left. Kanji felt almost a pang of regret, knowing that he could have said something, knowing that she wanted him to say something. He sat there. Then, he heard the door to the suite open, and then close. He was alone.

After a long while of waiting, a long while of regret, Kanji decided to finally get his sorry ass out of bed. He pushed the ruffled blankets off of his legs and slid off of the bed. He stood there for a few seconds, trying to gain balance, and stretched. He looked around his room, thinking of what to do next. He noticed a towel spread out on a corner of the foot of his bed and decided that taking a shower to clear his mind would be a nice thing to do, so he did. But it didn't.

He trudged across the empty hallway, still shirtless and towel in hand. He recalled Naoto saying that she had an errand to run, so he was alone. It was just him and his lonely self. The bathroom was still a bit humid from when Naoto took her shower, Kanji noticed. He closed the door, but he didn't lock it, knowing that he was alone, and that if Naoto came back she wouldn't open the door, probably.

Kanji slung his towel over his shoulder, placed his hands on either side of the counter, and bent into the mirror, staring into his own eyes. The mirror was still a bit foggy, from when Naoto took her shower, he assumed. He couldn't really see his own reflection that clearly. He straightened himself back up and rubbed his face, ruffling and scratching the hair on the back of his head as well. He tossed his towel onto  some place on the counter where Naoto's own toiletries weren't occupying and undressed. After he stepped into the tub, he pulled the shower curtains to a close. The bottom of the tub was still wet from Naoto's wash.

He still couldn't stop thinking about her. Everything he saw, everything he felt, everything that was anything reminded of her. The running water over his skin, the smell of the hotel soaps and shampoos, it all somehow came rushing into his mind in the form of her. Yeah, taking a shower was a great idea to get your mind off of her, he told himself. He should have just stayed in bed. 

He stopped the shower and pulled the curtains back, stepping out. He was dripping wet, and he stood there for just a moment before reaching for his towel on the bathroom counter. He rubbed his towel over himself, drying away the excess water. He stood there for a little longer after wrapping the beige-colored fabric around his waist. He also realized that he forgot to bring clothes with him into the restroom. He knew that Naoto had gone to whatever it was she had gone to do, and surely she wouldn't have returned after such a short time. He didn't hear the door to their shared suite open either. He assumed he was still alone. 

He stepped out of the foggy restroom and into the hallway, going to get some clothes to bring back into the restroom. He made his way towards the closed door of his room, dressed solely in a towel. He placed a hand on the cold handle of his door and stopped. He wasn't alone.

He turned his head slowly, to meet gazes with the one person he didn't want to see. It was Naoto. he quickly turned the rest of himself towards her, blushing furiously and frankly, quite embarrassed. Naoto was standing in the hallway, next to the closed door of her own room. Her eyes bore into his. She took a step forward.

He couldn't. He couldn't keep eye contact with her. He quickly averted his gaze downward. Her only attire was a towel. Motherfucking shit, Kanji thought to himself. There was nothing he could do. He averted his gaze again from Naoto's only attire down to the floor and whipped around, his back facing her. She kept walking towards him, he could hear her footsteps, and Kanji didn't know what to do. He never knew what to do. He wished he knew, he wished he was smart, he wished he was intelligent, he wished he was all the things he wasn't.

She was right behind him now, just a little more and her chest would be pressed against his back. He felt a hand come up to the side of his neck, a small, delicate, porcelain hand. Naoto's hand. She was looking up at him, he could tell, and he was still looking away, afraid of any eye contact, afraid of any contact with her. He could feel her, he could feel what she wanted, or at least he assumed what she wanted. He slowly turned himself towards her, his bare chest only inches away from her own towel-covered chest, and shifted his gaze onto hers. Her eyes were serious, but they knew, they understood, and, God, were they beautiful.

Suddenly, he felt her lips on his. He remembered their feel, their texture, their softness. He remembered it from last night, though it felt like it was an eternity since he had last tasted them. He slowly brought his hand to her hip, wanting her closer, closer than she had ever been. He brought his other hand up to her hair and she brought her free hand up to his bare chest. He felt her other hand move slowly from his cheek up into his still damp hair. Her hair was still barely damp too. Did she, he wondered, not leave? She was still in a towel, her hair was still barely wet. He didn't know. He didn't care. As long as he could still feel her once more like this.

Her lips, her teeth, her tongue, her, he missed it all far too much. Suddenly, their lips parted. Kanji felt at a loss. He stared into her eyes. They wanted something, she wanted something, and he could have only imagined what she wanted. Her hand was back down onto his cheek, her soft, delicate, perfect hand. She looked deep into his eyes. 

Kanji heard the sound of something falling and knew what that sound could only be. He felt her towel around his feet. He was trembling. Her eyes still bore straight into his, unflinching. He didn't look down, he didn't dare look down. 

She moved forward once more to kiss him again, but he flinched away, leaving her hanging. He didn't know what to do. He never knew what to do, and he hated himself for it. She looked into his eyes for just a moment longer, and then turned her head away, almost scowling. He was afraid, afraid he hurt her.

"You're trembling," she began. "Th-this isn't what you want, is it," she murmured. He finally heard her voice, but it was far from what he wanted to hear it sound like. He felt her hand leave the side of his cheek, as she moved to take a step away.

He knew. He knew he didn't want her to leave. He knew what he wanted, and it was her. He quickly brought his hand up to her own, pressing it back against his face. He wanted her to keep touching him, feeling him, understanding him. He wanted to keep touching her, feeling her, and understanding her. "N-no," he blurted out in a sudden burst of coherence. "I-I do want...," he stuttered and then trailed off. Her eyes were looking back into his. They were full, full of the desire of wanting to understand. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. He wanted to tell her that he'd stop feeling everything if that meant he could feel her. He was an idiot, a bumbling, blustering idiot, but he knew. He knew he loved her, and he knew what he wanted. 

"I want you, Naoto," he finally pushed out. He felt his entire soul pouring out. He moved forward to kiss her, and she kissed him back. He placed his hand on her bare back, his other hand holding her own hand which was pressed against his cheek. Everything was so much easier now. The dam in his heart broke, and everything just spilled out. He felt her lips, her teeth, her tongue, her everything. His hand slid down to the small of her back and pulled her closer. He wanted her, and just her in that moment. He wanted to know her, he wanted to understand her, he wanted to feel her. He felt her own free hand place itself on his back. He could feel her beginning to slowly back away, but she pulled him along with her, and he followed. She smelled clean, sweet, warm. He just wanted to wrap himself in her scent. He wanted to drown in it.

He moved his hand from on top of her own hand down her arm and over to her upper back. They stopped for a second in front of Naoto's door, still feeling their lips over each other's. he could feel her hand leave his back for only a few seconds as he heard her door open. She turned so her back was towards her room. Her lips left his and a strand of saliva was the only thing to connect their lips for only a few seconds. Her eyes bore into his as his eyes did the same to hers. She looked at him, her gaze soft yet serious. He swallowed and knew what she wanted. Him. Him and him alone. If that was all he understood of Naoto, that was fine, he decided. As long as he had something to make her happy. 

His hand made its way back up to her own on top of his cheek as she pulled him into the hazy, light-filtered bedroom. He remembered the last time he was in here, the first night. He lifted his other hand up to her shoulder as her free hand placed itself on his own shoulder, still pulling him in, into her room, into her heart. Her eyes gave the expression that she knew what she was doing, as inexperienced as she was with falling so deeply in love, she seemed to know what she was doing, and Kanji just followed.

She pulled him over to her bed and she sat down, Kanji standing, bending over her. She pulled herself further into the bed, lowering herself backwards so that Kanji would have to come over her if he still wanted to feel her touch. He let his towel drop, not caring what else happened, just as long as he could have her and she could have him. 

They still held eye contact, not once looking down towards their beloved's body. Beloved, Kanji thought again. It was still a bit of a strange word for him to use, but it still worked. He loved her, he knew this for a fact, and if that love was strange, it was merely just a strange love. There was no getting past it. 

They began to kiss again as they repositioned themselves on top of the bed so that the two could be comfortable. Naoto laid her entire body down, Kanji still on all fours and on top of her, his hands on either side of her head and his knees on either side of her hips. Her hand let go of his face and fell to her side as they stopped kissing. She was beneath him, fully naked, and wanting.

He stared into her eyes as she did the same to his. Her eyes were soft, and as always, full of life. Bright, intelligent, and understanding life. He wanted to say something. He didn't know what. He kept staring into her eyes, hoping that they'd tell him what to say, what she wanted him to say. Nothing. They didn't want him to say anything. But still, he wanted to say something, and he finally found something to say, something he knew he wanted to say for a long time, and he said it.

"I love you."

The hazy light which was filtered through the curtain filled the room, making everything seem serene and tranquil, like a dream. But it wasn't a dream. He felt her hand come up to touch his cheek once more. Her soft, delicate, porcelain hand, he could feel it, and he knew this wasn't a dream. He smelled her scent around him. Her warm, sweet, loving scent, he could smell it, and still, he knew this wasn't a dream. He stared into her eyes. Her bright, intelligent, understanding eyes, he could see them, and he knew that this wasn't a dream. He felt her love. Her soft, warm, understanding, unconditional love, he felt it, and he knew that there was no way that this could be a dream.

He bent forward once more, bent forward to kiss her. Her hands moved up and down his body, feeling the places that he longed for her to feel. He pressed his weight against hers, careful not to crush, but letting her feel the weight of his love. He let a hand search up and down her body, feeling the places that she had kept hidden for so long. He slowly placed it on her breast, it felt, and was, larger than he had thought it to be. It barely fit in his own, already quite large hand. He moved his other hand, which was holding him up on the side of her head, to her hair, letting his elbow still prop himself up. He dug his fingers into her hair, feeling its soft silkiness. Her own hands moved up into his own black hair, too. She dug her fingers into his scalp, ruffling his hair, wanting to feel, wanting to give.

His lips slowly parted from hers, leading a trail of kisses down her jawline, then onto her neck, wanting to explore not with his hands anymore. He kept his hands still in her hair and on her breast, but he slowly maneuvered his busy mouth downwards. He left a series of bite marks and hickeys along her neck, he left the imprint of his love.

He placed a trail of kisses along her collarbone and made his way down to her breast. He started off planting a kiss that slowly made its way into a gentle and tender suck. Her other breast was being felt and handled by his hand. He felt her nipples go hard underneath his tongue and fingers. He felt the parts that were bound by cloth for so many years, the parts that were bound by fear. The fear of rejection. But he wasn't going to reject her. Never, ever, would he leave her.

Kanji heard a moan escape his parter's lips as he felt her fingers dig into his scalp. He realized that he was quite hard himself, but he didn't want to give in to his desires. He wanted this to last. He wanted to savor the feel of her body, the taste of her skin, the feeling of her love. 

He began to make his way down her stomach, leaving an invisible trail of love along the way. He dragged his hand which was tangled in her hair down to her other, now free breast, squeezing and pressing them with both hands. He passed her belly button, giving it a single kiss, and then continued down. He slowly made his way to the "v" that marked the end of the stomach and the beginning of the rest. He planted one, two, three, ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million kisses there. As many kisses as the moment called for, as many kisses as all the times he thought of her, he planted them all there. And, slowly, he began to make his way even further down. 

He only barely brushed his tongue against the surface of her flesh and he felt her start with excitement, ecstasy, and surprise, her fingers digging deep into his hair once more, and then letting go to grab the bed sheets as he dug his tongue deep into her. She opened her thighs and exposed herself completely and let out a deep moan as he tasted her. She clenched and tore at the sheets as he kept digging deeper and deeper into her. He tasted her insides, her hot, warm flesh. 

"K-Kanji," she moaned in a deep ecstasy. He wanted her to keep saying his name. He kept pushing into her to keep her moaning. Her thighs were soft. They were perfect. Everything about her was perfect. Every fold of skin, every strand of hair on her body, every speck on her porcelain skin, it was all perfect. 

He felt something come in between Naoto's breasts and his own hands. He stopped for a second to look up. Naoto was looking straight at him, her hands coming in between his own hands and her breasts. Her palms aligned with his and their fingers intertwined. They looked at each other with an air of understanding, and Kanji continued his pleasing. He dug his tongue deeper and deeper as his partner's entrance was becoming tighter and tighter. Every flap, every fold of skin, he could feel the tension build up. She moaned again and her hands clenched his as she was building up, he could feel it. He tasted her fluids as a mixture of them and his own saliva ran over and down his lips.

His lips parted from her flesh as a strand of his saliva mixed with some other fluids of her kept them connected for only a second longer. He didn't want it to end. He wanted to savor her. He raised himself up to her, placing his hips in between her open thighs, their connected hands resting atop the pillows on which Naoto's head lay, wiping his mouth across his bare upper arm in the process. He swallowed any remaining fluids and juices of hers that might have remained inside of his mouth. He didn't care if it was "gross." It was her, it was all her, and he didn't care about anything else. Their faces were barely inches apart, and he could feel her heavy breathing over his own skin. He was breathing heavily, too.

Their eyes bore into each other for what seemed like forever. This sounded kind of cliché, he knew, but it was the good kind of forever. No. It was the great kind of forever. The best kind of forever. The perfect kind. The kind of forever he wanted to stay in, well, forever.

He pushed his face into hers, their lips meeting for the umpteenth time, and wanting to meet for many more after that. They didn't need any permission to let their tongues explore, to want to feel. They didn't need any permission to love. They continued their kissing, continued their feeling. He could feel his beloved buck her hips up into his. She wanted more, she desired it, she longed for it. Kanji was hard as well, and he knew he would to give it all to her, all that she wanted, all that he could feel.

She ground her hips into his as he did the same, slowly succumbing to his desires, to both of their desires. He untangled one of his hands from hers, reaching down to feel her hard entrance. He stuck a finger inside of her, feeling her warm, sticky juices. She moaned into the kiss as he felt around her flesh, his other fingers exploring every flap and fold. His own erection was already throbbing, leaving a pool of pre-come along the "v" where his millions of invisible kisses lay. His thumb grazed a small, hard bud and she suddenly bucked her hips forward, her hand clenching his and giving a cry into the kiss.

He separated their lips to look into her eyes once more, telling her things that no words could ever explain. His hand left her sticky, sensitive flesh and made its way to his own long, hard form. He rubbed his hand up and down his shaft, staring into her eyes, looking for a sign to show she was ready, a sign of approval. A single nod was all that it took.

He positioned himself at her entrance, still staring into her eyes. They knew, they understood, they wanted. He pushed in. Her hand gripped his, she winced, as it was her first time. It was his, too. Bit by bit, he pushed in further, pushing himself into her core. Bit by bit, she let him in, her skin tearing. He was hurting her, he could tell, but her eyes told him that it was OK. That the hurt was meant to be there, it was the giving of herself to him. He suppressed the desire to stop, to stop hurting her, but her hand still clenched his, telling him to continue, and he pushed in again.

His slow turning to quick and uneven thrusting slowly became an even and rhythmic pump. She was panting heavily, as was he. His hand raised back up to his and their palms touched and their fingers intertwined so that now both of their hands were back on top of the pillows and linked. He became tired, but not tired enough to stop. He felt her tightening up around himself with each thrust and pump of his hips. He settled his head in the crook of her neck, breathing hard into her collarbone. He lapped at her neck and began to nip and suck at it. 

She moaned and he felt her neck stretch and her back arch with tension. She was building up, he could tell, getting tighter and tighter with each thrust. He could feel that he was about climax as well. His mouth left the side of her neck, a large hickey left where his lips once were. He was going to blow his load, he  could feel the friction between him and Naoto intensify. 

He wanted to come, he wanted to, but he didn't know where. He stared into her eyes, her hazy, love-filled eyes, asking where. Inside, they told him. He could see her giving him a slight nod under all of the rhythmic pushes and thrusts of his grinding hips, a nod of approval, a nod of giving. 

Kanji nodded in understanding, thrusting and grinding even harder into her, knowing that he was free of the worry of her own worry of his seed being planted into her. He gave her the full extent of his love.

He felt her suddenly tighten around him, her hands fiercely clenching and gripping his own as she let out one last, final moan. His breath hitched and his hands also tightly pressed against her own as he felt her tightening and shuddering against him. He gave it all to her. 

His seed flowed into her as she was still tight and spasming and shuddering under him. He, too, was sending quakes and spasms along his skin. The feeling he  could once only give himself, the feeling of his nights filled with desire, the feeling he longed to feel with another, he felt it, and its warmness engulfed him. It engulfed both him and Naoto.

He looked into her eyes, her warm, hazy, loved-filled eyes. They stared at him back. He looked at her lips, her thin, yet full, perfect lips. They were parted and she was panting. He pulled himself out of her, sending one last shudder along each of their spines, and he fell on top of her, panting and exhausted. His head was atop one pair of their tightly interwoven hands, but he was too satisfied to move. He let his weight weigh against the side of her that he toppled over onto. Her head was tuned towards his, their parted and heavily-breathing lips barely inches apart.

He untangled his other hand from hers and slowly brought it to the side of her face, his rough and calloused thumb gently caressing her cheek, her full and flushed porcelain cheek. It was so smooth, so perfect. His gaze slowly made its way to her eyes, her hazy, heavy-lidded eyes. They were, as they always were, full of life, life that was full of love. He pushed his face across the top of the pillows, giving her a finishing kiss. He felt it was what was needed. 

This went on for a while until their lips finally parted. He felt he ought to have said something. He wanted to say something, but he didn't need to because Naoto said it first. 

"I love you, too."

Too? Oh yes. He recalled that he had already uttered those words to her.  And he meant them. They resumed kissing and she put her free hand on top of his cheek as well, rolled over on top of him, and then off, and then back on again. They were still naked, and they didn't care. Anything to feel each other. 

Their lips parted and now Naoto's head lay in the crook of Kanji's neck, her arms draped around his torso and his arm carefully wrapped about her shoulders. Their panting had slowly dissipated into a regular even breathing. Kanji glanced down and could see his chest heaving normally with a pale arm draped across it. A little further down and he could see Naoto's leg placed on top of his hips. He moved his head so that he could feel her silky hair on his cheek.

He wanted to stay that way forever. He wanted to love her forever. He wanted her to love him forever. He felt her nestle her head in his neck a bit further. They didn't speak for a while. They didn't need to speak. Though, Kanji did have some questions that came to mind, but they weren't urgent. He could wait. He could wait forever and ever like this, he loved her so. 

They stayed like that for some time, until the silence was broken by a question.

"Why me?"

Kanji had asked that question before, when Naoto had called him to explain the trip. That time, Kanji had asked the question too late, or Naoto had hung up too soon. Either or. He question still wasn't answered, and it still somewhat bothered him, though not as much as before. Even if she didn't have an explanation, at least he could make her happy. 

Naoto furrowed her brow. "There are two meanings to that question," she began. "Are you asking why I brought you on this trip or why...," she paused, thinking of how to phrase her next sentence. "Why this?" She motioned her elbow and leg which were draped over his naked body. He knew what she meant.

Kanji paused for a second, thinking of which one he meant. Both of them, he guessed. "Both of them, I guess."

She let out a sigh and he felt her torso heave against his. "To be honest, I'm not," she began, "quite sure as to why I chose to bring you on this little excursion." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "I suppose it was because you were really the only one I could go to."

The only one? "The only one?" Kanji asked. "But, uh, what about..." He gathered a list of names in his head. "What about Rise? Or Chie or Amagi-senpai? I mean, they're all girls, right? And I'm a dude." His brow furrowed as well. This really wasn't making too much sense. "Wouldn't you have rather gone out with another girl?"

He felt her shoulders shrug underneath his arm. "You know Rise-san; here one week and gone the next several. She rarely stays long, considering that she's now back in the business of media. I couldn't have possibly gone with her. Yukiko-senpai has an entire inn to keep up with. I didn't want to bother or distract her. And Chie-senpai, well," she paused for a second, sorting through her thoughts. "To be honest, I'd rather have gone with you over Yukiko or Chie-senpai." He couldn't help but blush at her statement. "Though I suppose I would have been much more comfortable around Rise-san, I think I still would have chosen you. You and I were in the same grade, same graduating class, Rise was barely here for most of our third year. And.." She pushed her face a bit closer into his neck and held him a bit more tightly. "And I wanted to spend time with you; I wanted to get to know you a bit better, maybe." Now, Kanji was really blushing.

"M-Me?" He mumbled.

Naoto nodded. "Whenever I had the opportunity to be with you, learn more about you, you always ran off, saying you had something else to do. It puzzled me quite a bit, to be honest." She lapsed into silence for a moment or two. "Did you..." She trailed off, trying to to seem so awkward for asking such a question.

Did he what? Have a crush on her so many years back? "Yeah," Kanji answered, blushing even more furiously.

Naoto giggled into his neck. Her laugh was so perfect. "Good," she began. "I was afraid that you didn't seem to like me. That's why I hesitated about calling you up. I feared that you would say 'no.'"

'No'? More like 'No way.' "There's no way that I'd be able to say 'no' to you," Kanji mumbled. 

Naoto laughed a little bit more and hugged him a little bit tighter. "Good," she started again, "then I believe I won't have any problems with persuading you to do what I want."

Kanji laughed along with her. "Well, maybe there are a few I might butt heads with you on."

Their laughing slowly dissipated into a calm silence. Kanji still wanted to ask her why it was him she chose to give herself to, but he didn't want to ask anything that might have been too "not in the moment"-ish, or too hard for her to answer. Or, maybe, something he wouldn't like the answer of.

his eyes wandered about the room, looking for nothing in particular. he saw a black dress thrown in a corner with a few other clothes, the black dress she looked so beautiful in, the black dress she was wearing when their lips met for the first time in the elevator. He remembered the night at the bar, the flashing lights and the booming music. He remembered her making her way through the clubbing crowds, making her way towards the restrooms. He remembered her ass and thighs, he remembered him catching himself looking at them and being quite embarrassed. He was embarrassed even remembering himself catching himself looking at her body. He remembered a text from Rise, multiple texts from Rise. Boy, was she troublesome. He remembered her telling him something that he wanted to know more about. 

What was it? Kanji raked through his mind looking for what might come up in the next few seconds. He remembered. He remembered Rise telling him about her going with Naoto to the same club some time ago. He sat in still silence, wondering if now would be a good time to ask, if there would ever be a good time to ask. He decided that he didn't like the silence between them all that much, that he didn't like it more than he didn't like not knowing the answer to the his questions, so, he asked.

"Uh," he started. He didn't know how to phrase his question. "That one night, last night, uh," Kanji kept thinking of ways to start off without it being so awkward. "At the club." At least he was getting somewhere. "You know how you, er, went to the restroom and stuff, yeah?" This was hard. Kanji wondered if choosing to break the silence was such a great idea. 

Naoto looked up at him with eyes full of curiosity. "Yes...?" She said. Okay, wow, this was tough.

"So, uh, Rise texted me, and, er, she told me that you and her went to that club before. By yourselves." Kanji looked back down at her and hoped that his question was phrased just so well enough that she would be able understand.

"Oh." She brought her head back down to his collarbone. Kanji guessed this meant she understood it, or, at least, some of it. "If you're wondering why we both came to the same club, it was because Rise and I happened to be in the same town at the time, and she wanted to go out and do 'something fun' together. It was her who suggested the club. To be honest, I didn't really want to go, but she insisted." 

Kanji nodded in understanding. "So, uh," Kanji began awkwardly, "what'd you guys do there?" Kanji hoped that it wasn't too awkward of a question to answer. "But you don't gotta tell me if you don't wanna," he added thoughtfully.

"Oh, it's quite all right," Naoto said. She placed her palm flat on Kanji's chest. "Actually," Naoto began. From her tone of voice, Kanji could tell that the answer to this question wasn't going to be the least awkward thing to explain. "Rise took me here not only because she wanted to do 'something fun,' but also because she believed that I needed a break from work. She actually took me there because, well," Naoto shifted awkwardly, "she wanted to find me a date." Oh. "But, to be honest, I really didn't think I needed one."

"So, uh, did you find one?" Kanji asked with an awkward curiosity.

Naoto smiled and shook her head. "Fortunately, I did not." Good. Kanji felt bad that he didn't want her to have found a date, but he pushed it away. "Actually," Naoto swallowed, "Rise told me that I should have considered dating you." She and Kanji both shared a furious blush.

"Oh."

"I ended up pushing the possibility away every time she brought it up, saying that 'we'd be perfect for each other,' but I didn't completely reject the idea." Her delicate fingers drew circles over his bare chest. "I just assumed that you'd say no, considering the fact that you ran off every time there was a situation in which we were to spend time together, and that I feared that you might have not liked me." She stopped drawing circles and placed her hand flat back on his chest. "Rise told me that I had 'no idea' of how you felt towards me, and I can now see that she was right." She nodded to herself, smiling. "And that I was quite wrong."

They sat in silence for a while, each other's company just being enough. After a while of this, Naoto turned herself over and opened a drawer in the nightstand. She began shifting through a few things as Kanji looked over her shoulder. There was a glass of water on the top of her nightstand. There was a clock next to it, but he was too lazy to find the hands and read the numbers which they were pointing to. He just assumed that it was some time in the late morning or early afternoon. Probably the former.

She turned back over, propping herself up against the pillows behind her as Kanji propped himself up with one elbow and looked at the object in her hands, curious as to what it was. 

She held a small box which gave some sort of rattling sound when she turned it over to find the correct place to open it. He stared at her hands fiddling with the box. His eyes slowly began to focus on her exposed breasts, but as he realized where he was looking he quickly averted his gaze back to the small package. Naoto ripped open a side and pulled out a small packet of pills. She placed the box down next to her legs and Kanji picked it up, reading the labels. They were morning-after pills, pills to take the morning after sex to prevent pregnancy, though, right now probably was the morning-of. He blushed furiously again as he remembered that he did just recently lose his virginity to Naoto. She had just recently lost her own to Kanji, likewise.

She popped a pill out of the package of foil and plastic and into her mouth and took the glass of water sitting on the nightstand. She raised it up to her lips and drank. Kanji looked at her drinking, realizing that he was quite parched as well. Her cheeks were full with water and the one pill that she had placed in her mouth as she lowered the still half-full glass. Or half-empty. It depends, but right now it seemed pretty half-full to Kanji.

She looked at Kanji and offered the cup to him with a raised eyebrow. He nodded dumbly and put the box down to accept the cup as the detective swallowed the contents in her mouth. Kanji raised the glass up to his parched lips and drank. After a couple of gulps he handed Naoto back the now almost-empty glass. She placed it back on the nightstand.

"Morning-after pills," she stated. Naoto picked up the small box and placed the package of remaining pills back into the box. She handed the box back to Kanji, knowing that he was probably still curious as to what the were, or how they worked. "You can take one if you'd like," Naoto said with a grin, "though I don't think it would be necessary."

Kanji grinned and laughed as well. "Nah," he started, "I think I'm good."

"You can probably tell that I didn't actually leave when I told you that I had to step out for a while," Naoto began sarcastically. "When-- or if you heard the door to our hotel room open, that was room service. I asked them to bring me a box of these pills." Kanji looked away from the box and up at her. Her eyes were gazing off into the distance.

He remembered her saying something about leaving and he remembered the sound of the hotel door opening and closing. But he also remembered her in the hallway and not wherever else she was "supposed to be." "So, uh, I guess you were here the entire time?" Kanji asked. "You took a shower and you told me that you were gonna leave, but you stayed, and the door was actually room service?"

Naoto nodded. "Precisely."

Kanji nodded as well, not really knowing why, and he looked back down at the box. There was still something bothering him, and he just blurted out the question without even thinking about it. "So, did you actually want to have sex with me?" He didn't know why he did that. He realized how awkward and somehow pathetic his question had sounded and he wanted to hide under the blankets and never come out. Smooth, Tatsumi. Real smooth.

"I...," Naoto began awkwardly, "...er, yes. I did." Kanji could tell that she, too, felt kind of awkward about the question and he just left it at that. 

They sat in awkward silence for a while, until Naoto broke it with another question. "How did Rise-san know that we were at that club?" Kanji took notice of Naoto's arms as they crossed over her chest. They didn't totally cover her breasts, he noticed, and he stared at her chest again until he realized what he was doing. He looked up at Naoto, who was looking off into the distance with a furrowed brow. He didn't know if she cared where his eyes wandered, she probably wouldn't, but he was still cautious of it anyway.

"Oh, uh," Kanji started, a bit embarrassed, "I made the dumb mistake of telling her that I was waiting for you to finish doing whatever you were doing so we could leave the club." It was a pretty dumb mistake. No. Scratch that. It was a really dumb mistake. "And then she asked if it was the club that you and her went to." Kanji paused and looked up at Naoto to see if she was listening. She was still looking into the distance, but she was also still listening. "She also told me," Kanji added, "that she knew that we were on vacation together from Chie-senpai."

He saw Naoto's already bright eyes light up even more with realization. "Ah, I see," she began. "Yukiko-senpai probably had an errand to run for the inn, which included going to your textile shop. She most likely noticed that you weren't there, and so your mother probably told her about you and I and our trip," she explained. "Rise most likely got bored, like she so often does, and wanted to text someone, preferably another female. Knowing that Yukiko-senpai is often quite busy with her errands and the inn, and that almost never use my phone, unless it's for one-text notices or certain calls, she must have decided to text Chie-senpai. And with Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai being the inseparable friends they are, most of the rumors and town news is shared between them."

Damn. She really was an ace detective. "Wow," Kanji gaped. "You really are a fuckin' ace detective." 

Naoto gave a smile and a sigh. "Yes, Kanji. It's my job."

They sat in silence for another while, just enjoying the other's company. Kanji wanted every morning to be like this. Not exactly every morning running away from Naoto and then having sudden revelations about what he wanted and then having wild and lucid sex, but just being able to talk with her, just being able to know and understand her a little bit more, just being able to enjoy each other's silent company, just being able to be with each other. Maybe just a little bit of sex the night before. Kanji was fine with that.

His eyes made their way over to her naked body. Both of their naked bodies, actually. He looked at his bare, familiar body sitting atop the covers next to Naoto's barely familiar body, and it was fucking perfect. Her legs, her thighs, that small "v," her stomach, her breasts, her arms, her hands, they were all perfect. She was perfect, and Kanji couldn't believe that he was hers. He looked back at his own body in comparison. It was nothing special, he thought, but that was probably because he was so used to it. He turned a little red and shifted a little after realizing that his dick was out in the open the entire time, and Naoto could have easily seen it. He hoped she didn't find it "unsatisfactory," or whatever.

He decided that he didn't want to dwell on the fact that his dick was open for judgement, only by Naoto, but her judgement was the only one that mattered to him. He placed his attention back on Naoto's body, her flawless, porcelain body. Her face, of course, was also perfect. It was very perfect, in fact, if this was possible. Her glowing eyes, her petite nose, her delicate lips, very, very perfect indeed.

Kanji was dumbstruck with how he ended up with her. He was big and clumsy, she was small and delicate. He wasn't all that smart and he helped his ma run a dinky little textile shop in some tiny countryside town, and she was an ace detective prince with however many generations of detective relatives to back her up, for crying out loud. What a pair they were, he thought.

His eyes wandered up and down her body. They ended up settling on her breasts again. Kanji didn't know why his gaze always ended up on her breasts, or ass if the former wasn't available at the time. There were so many other perfectly perfect placed he could have been looking at, but he always ended up with her breasts. He had the sudden urge to grab one and suck on it. No, bad Kanji.

"See something you like?" Naoto asked with a mischievous grin. Kanji turned quite red and looked straight up at her after that question. She had caught him looking and he wanted to hide under the blankets in embarrassment. Naoto pushed her face towards his and she began kissing him. They both began kissing. She shifted herself down to his position and rolled on top of him, their lips still connected.

This kissing continued for a while, Naoto still laying on top of him. When their lips finally separated, she was staring straight into his eyes, and he was staring straight into hers. They stayed like this for a while, Naoto's hands folded on top of his chest, his hands on the small of her back. One of his hands slowly made its way down to her ass. He didn't grab it or anything, he just placed his hand on it. Still perfect, he thought.

Her eyes wandered over his face, examining every feature. Kanji hoped that it was satisfactory enough for her. His own eyes wandered over her face as well. Her lips were shaped into a smile of content, though it was barely visible unless you were as close as Kanji was to her face. She propped her chin up on her palm as her elbow laid on Kanji's collarbone. Her other hand began shifting through the black hair falling over his head.

His eyed moved from her lips down to her jawline, trailing even lower to her neck and the few locks of hair falling around it. Naoto legs and feet were swinging above her with enjoyment of what she was doing. Just a bit lower and Kanji found himself looking at her breasts. Again. This always happened and Kanji, once realizing where his eyes wandered looked back up at Naoto, the tips of his ears turning pink. 

She was looking straight into his eyes, her own eyes bright, and full of that same, joyous life. He realized that she had probably noticed his staring. He turned a bit redder and looked away in embarrassment. She giggled and gave him one tiny kiss. Now, he was really red.

She rolled off of him, stretching her arms and legs out. Her body was fully exposed as she stretched. How, Kanji wondered, was she comfortable with this? Kanji was still somewhat embarrassed about his own dick being out in the open, but Naoto, well, she used to hide her body and be ashamed of her girl parts. But now, with Kanji, she seemed to be completely fine with them being so exposed.

"Aren't you, er," Kanji began, turning himself towards her. He, again, had no idea how to phrase this question. She stopped her stretching and looked up at him. "I mean, I'm kinda embarrassed with my own dick bein' out in the open and stuff, and, well, you seem to be just completely fine with yourself." He hoped that that statement was enough for her to understand what he wanted to know. He blushed a bit after realizing that he spilled the bit about his dick and being uncomfortable with it and she would probably notice it now if she didn't before. He raised his hand and scratched the back of his head and shifted his legs a bit, hoping that that would somehow draw some attention away from what was in between his legs.

Naoto looked back up to the ceiling, her arms and legs still stretched out around her, still exposed. She shrugged. "I don't know what it is," she began, still staring up, "but being around you makes me feel like," she paused, forming the right words in her mind to use. "It makes me comfortable with myself. You make me comfortable with myself." She looked up at him. Her eyes were full of something, something that Kanji almost saw as gratitude.

She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and he felt her place a hand on his thigh, right next to his exposed length. She looked back at him, her eyes now full of kindness and love, and a little bit of mischief. "And there's nothing wrong with your dick," she said with a playful, reassuring smile. "I think it's quite nice," she noted to him in a sarcastic, matter-of-factly way as she turned back around, removing her hand from his thigh and grabbing the clock off of the nightstand and reading the time. 

Kanji suddenly looked down and was blushing furiously. She placed the clock back on the nightstand, looking back at him. She noticed his furious blushing and smiled once more and planted one last kiss on the side of his mouth. She stood up and arched her back, stretching on her toes.

"After much of that sweating," began Naoto, "I think I'm going to take a bath." Kanji nodded in understanding as Naoto made her way to the door. Kanji's gaze made its way to her bare ass and thighs making their way across the room along with her. She stopped at the door and turned around, now looking back at Kanji. He quickly shifted his gaze back up to her. He could see that she was smiling and almost shaking her head. He realized that she probably saw that he was staring before she turned all the way around. Kanji was still embarrassed that he was caught looking.

 "You know," she started, taking the subject of the atmosphere off of her ass and thighs and Kanji's staring, "the tub is probably big enough for two. You can join me, if you'd like."

Him? And Naoto? Taking a bath together? Kanji wanted to pinch himself. "Uh," he began, "yeah, sure." He nodded dumbly and a smile came across her face. He pushed himself off of the bed and followed Naoto out of the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (EDIT: the original notes that i had included before said that i was planning to continue this fic, but as i said before, i cant really see myself finishing/come to finish this fic. if you stuck around despite my earlier statement of not finishing this fic, thanks, i guess. and sorry about the god awful writing LOL)


End file.
